Good Stuff

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

In Praise of Movie Innovation

I love movies. I love new things in movies- new ways of making movies.

I loved Memento, in which the main character has no long-term memory. In essence, the entire movie goes backwards until we learn why he has lost his memory.

I loved Rope, in which Alfred Hitchcock made the whole movie in one room with only one "shot."

I love movies that experiment, that change things up. I want to be inspired and challenged.

But more important than this, I want to watch movies. And herein lies the problem. But thankfully there are several new ways to see movies that I am learning about. Let me share a few of them with you.

The Movies Channel on YouTube. Wow! That was my first reaction to this little gem. On YouTube you can now watch full length movies for free (and legally). You need a high speed connection and the selection is not great, but it is growing. You can watch movies on your computer any day or time. Check out http://www.youtube.com/movies.

The Red Box. This was completely new to me until this week. The Red Box is a vending machine that has popped up in many locations in the last few years. For $1 you can rent a DVD for 24 hours. Again, the selection is not the greatest, and it is not as convenient as finding a movie on your computer, but it is good... very good. You will need a credit or debit card to use the Red Box, and if you do not return you movie you will be charged late fees. But- one more bit of good news- you can return your movie to any Red Box. Find details and Red Box locations at http://www.redbox.com/home.aspx.

Netflix. Some friends got me a Netflix subscription for my birthday. I may never go to another video store. Netflix is convenient. The movies come to my home. It is inexpensive. I spend less money for more movies. And the selection is great. I have been able to find every movie that I am interested in (so far). Netflix is simple. You pay a monthly fee for the number of movies you would like. I get two movies at a time for $13.99 monthly. I pick out the movies online and Netflix sends them to me. On Monday I returned Slumdog Millionaire, today I will receive Run, Fatboy, Run. I am a happy fatboy. Find Netflix at http://www.netflix.com.